Cardiology

A small single-center study yields provocative results that may help increase understanding of the importance of the left atrial appendage. 

Which CVD biomarker is most useful in what situation? Here are the top 5 most useful in primary care plus 3 key criteria to help choose the right one. 

No metabolic derangement, insulin sensitivity preserved; fat on the macrometabolic level can look fit. Now, let's look deeper. 

For your patients with 2018 resolutions to get healthy! Get a top-line look at 5 top fitness apps you can recommend to them and/or use yourself.

Is fixed-dose combination therapy your go-to for an initial hypertension diagnosis? If not, why not?

The chest pain is non-pleuritic, non-exertional, and is worse when the patient is supine. What is your read of the ECG?

Bleeding and "mysterious" sginal for MI seen in RE-LY persist. Message: continue to weigh risk vs benefit. 

Study net-net: Account for kidney function when dosing the direct oral anticoagulants -- but also account for an agent's potential renal harm.

This study demonstrated that in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, use of β-blockers was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events and severe hypoglycemia. Details here.

A new meta-analysis finds that routine intake of artificial sweeteners is linked to weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. Wait, what? 

Here's a look at some of the ways people have been dying lately -- from the common to the unusual.

Fifty-year-old female w/ HTN, DM seen in ED for palpitations, near-syncope. Weak rapid pulse (210 bpm), BP 75/35 mmHg. What's your ECG read?

Myosis is accompanied by acute onset dizziness, double vision, and asthenia. What's in your differential diagnosis?  

What does the office-based ECG tell you about the patient's complaint of recently worsening asthenia and dyspnea? 

COPD… nasal polyps.. gout …. dyskinesia in Parkinson Disease: here’s a brief look at new drugs for these and other disorders coming your way.

That depends, as suggested by results of the CASTLE-AF study, presented at ESC Congress 2017, in Barcelona, Spain.

Diagnosis of atrial fibrillation via handheld iECG monitor looks promising but can we pay for it yet?

A small study raises big questions about patients' perceptions of AF symptoms after pulmonary vein ablation. What do you think?

Increased detection of subclinical atrial fibrillation intensifies a common clinical quandary in AF patients: to anticoagulate, or not?

A new study found an increase in diet-quality scores over 12 years was linked to an 8%-17% reduction in mortality.

The link between early asthma and left ventricular hypertrophy was independent of a range of major cardiovascular risk factors.

Some find new meta-analysis results disturbing; others say they underscore the need for more focused research.

The answer, and the evidence behind it, are essential knowledge for primary care.